Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that distracts us from it. It requires a conscious decision because it is a countercultural lifestyle that stands against the culture of overconsumption that surrounds us.
The world we live in is not friendly to the pursuit of minimalism. Its tendencies and relentless advertising campaigns call us to acquire more, better, faster, and newer. The journey of finding simplicity requires consistent inspiration.
For that reason, I hope you will make an effort this weekend to find a quiet moment with a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy some of these hand-picked articles to encourage more simplicity in your life.
The Cloud Generation: No Longer Buys All The Things | The Vocal by Sheree Joseph. It feels like this change has come about in a slow and nuanced way.
Skyway Mom Downsizes for Family Life in Downtown St. Paul | Pioneer Press by Molly Guthrey. “I think of it as paradise. The entry fee is getting rid of 80 percent of your stuff.”
Grace for the Journey | The Art of Simple by Alysa Bajenaru. Because minimalism is not a competition. And when we strive for someone else’s definition of perfection, we will certainly fail.
How Life in a Caravan Set Us Free | BBC by Tim Meek. “We currently enjoy a richness that we could never have imagined.”
The Skyway mom article was quite interesting. Moving to Nicaragua and swimming in the ocean with your family is something few would think to do. Makes you pause and think about our choices.
Thanks for these links! As a mother and aspiring minimalist I really appreciated the piece on the Skyway Mom. We take lots of public transport too as we ‘only’ have one car. Her year long sabbatical sounds blissful! I would love to do that one day.
I love the story about the family in the caravan! Traveling and living in a small space has been so freeing for us. Here is a guest post I wrote about our life on a sailboat: http://liesaboutparenting.com/how-a-family-thrives-living-in-a-small-space/ .
You are a constant inspiration. Thank you for your blog and posts.
Some great articles. Thanks, as always, for curating and sharing.
Great posts! I’m an empty nester, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t live like Skyway Mom or the Meeks. Very inspiring!
Wow, Joshua—I had a great week! In all, I took 6 large trash bags filled with unwanted possessions to Goodwill. I was able to release some of the “difficult” things. It feels wonderful. The house looks fantastic. I need to paint and that will be next. Once the pictures come off the wall to paint, very few will go back up. I thank you for your constant flow of of inspiration. I never would have come this far without your God-inspired wisdom. xo
oops! one less -of-
Great to see you featuring Alysa Bajenaru’s piece. Competitive minimalism just keeps us trapped in a “Keeping up with the Joneses” type mentality, where nothing we ever do is good enough as there is always someone else doing better.
I belong to a fabulous decluttering group on Facebook – really supportive – sometimes people post pictures and honestly I mistaken an “after” pic for a “before” pic. But it still always gets a like from me. No matter how many things there are in the room, it’s that they’ve made progress that they are proud to share that’s the achievement.
Saying that I am playing the Minimalist Game this month! However, to me its not really about the numbers and decluttering more than someone else. For me its a fun way to get some motivation and connect with others on the same journey. I am holding myself accountable here: http://wp.me/p66Woa-l
Thank you for these! I read the article by Skyway mom on downsizing. She talks about raising the kids in a 900 square foot apartment, and I got interested in seeing what that is in square metres (ah! Europe…)
It turns out it s 83 square metres, which is 3 square metres more than the house I live in with my husband and two kids. The funny thing is, where I live, that is considered pretty spacious! Spacious enough for us to have a bedroom for us and one for the two boys, and the luxury of a home office/guest room. We do not have a playroom, but who needs one when we live in nature (and I do admit we have a very big garden, with olive and citrus trees, so not quite the apartment living that Skyway mom talks about).
It brought home the differences in culture. And yes, I am aware that again, in other countries, 80 square metres is also considered a mansion!
“80 square metres is… a mansion” I couldn’t agree more! In fact one of the first posts on Skyway Mom was “How to Make Your Small Family Home Feel Like a Mansion”. It was unexpected to feel our 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment as luxurious and huge after downsizing from 3000 sq. ft. (278 sq.m.) God bless the power of less stuff in a great location.
The average house in America is 2400 sq ft. (223 sq.m.) and that doesn’t include garages usually stuffed to the gills.
Historically, and relative to the majority of the world, we live in an average to large home. Relative to our peer group and what most people dream of having – we are living small. We’ve forgotten what normal looks like in America – and we are all in debt or on prescription drugs because of it. Living small is a catch phrase that resonates, but what we are really trying to do is find joy living in a “normal” place.
Here’s a link to the “mansion article” – http://www.skywaymom.com/small-family-home/
Thank you Joshua for introducing me to your readers! It’s an honor.
Love your take and enjoyed your piece on the ‘how-to’ side. I can’t even imagine living in such a big place, 223 sq. metres for a family sounds huge!
The only thing I couldn’t do without (give the choice) is a large outdoor space, be it ours of communal.
Thanks again for your reply!